Britney Spears

Early beginnings

The "Mickey Mouse Club" period

                                                                                                                                                                         


Britney Spears first became famous as a member of the Disney Channel's New Mickey Mouse Club in the 1993 and 1994 seasons; Her castmates on the show included Justin Timberlake (whom Britney dated for five years) & another pop singer, Christina Aguilera.

Her first album on Jive Records was "Baby One More Time" and was number 1 spot on the Billboard Charts at the beginning of 1999; it also topped the charts in the UK. The single of the same name was also a number 1 hit in many countries, and was accompanied by a music video featuring Spears as a school girld dancing in a high school. Her second p album, "Oops I Did It Again", also debuted at number 1 and turned to be another massive success.

"Baby one more time"

                                                                                                                                                                                         

While millions of young girls became enthusiasts for her work, adopting her as an idol, it also turned out that many young adult males were also fans...

Following the first two successful albums, Spears' career skyrocketed, and a multimillion-dollar music, film, advertisement, concert and TV-special "industry" sprang up around her. 

Her next album, "Britney", was released at the end of 2001, and debuted at number 1 in the charts. The first single "I'm A Slave 4 U", closer to the RnB stylings, showed her will to grow with her audience. More than 4 million copies of "Britney" were sold in the United States, and over 12 million copies were sold worldwide. However, these figures were low in comparison to the sales of her other albums.

In September 2002, she took a break from the spotlight, and in 2003 some music industry critics started to declare that her career was in decline.

Facing criticisms

Britney has been facing sometimes fierce criticisms, among them:

• the fact her video clips were quite sexy, though adressed to many children
• her claiming she had been a virgin for quite a while...
• in 2004, she got married while drunk in Las Vegas 
• the fact she appeared nude
• and frequent drugs & alcohol issues
  

Under Media Scrutinity..

Perhaps the most prominent recent example of a celebrity having her mind messed with some elements of the press is Britney Spears.  She is said to be suffering from serious mental illness, and it can’t be getting any better by having hordes of camera-wielding assailants confronting her every time she goes to and from her car.

It should be noted first off that a celebrity is, to a reasonable extent, fair game. When someone makes a living in the public eye, that person understands there will be a certain amount of privacy that is left forever. It’s part of the job description, besides fame, glory and so forth...

A celebrity also knows every move he or she makes — professionally and personally — will be praised or ridiculed, but rarely ignored ,and there is a certain amount of responsibility Britney herself has to take for starting these disasters.

But the issues now are whether she indeed is mentally impaired, whether the media are making it worse, and whether they have a responsibility to back off and give the woman some peace.

Now, though, Britney is said by family and friends to be suffering from serious mental illness, including bipolar disorder and/or post-partum depression. Not long ago she exited her house strapped to a gurney after the police were called to her home. Her behavior has become more and more erratic...

Useful Links

• www.britneyspears.com
• www.britney.com